Antibacterial effects and ibuprofen release potential using chitosan microspheres loaded with silver nanoparticles

Abstract The wide use of chitosan microspheres in pharmaceutical applications, mainly in the controlled release of drugs and as a bactericidal agent, has been widely reported in the literature. However, these important biomaterial applications with multifunctionality is still scarce. In this study, epichlorohydrin-crosslinked chitosan microspheres were prepared and evaluated for Ag+ adsorption and formation of silver nanoparticles. The hybrid material obtained was used to antibacterial activity and controlled drug release. The optimal pH for adsorption of Ag+ ions in aqueous medium was pH 5–7; the best fit was the Langmuir model; the optimal time for maximum adsorption was 10 h. The highest release of the drug occured at neutral pH of the intestinal fluids and remained constant for 6 h. Silver ion microspheres demonstrated activity against E. coli and S. aureus. The concentration of ibuprofen incorporated in the chitosan microspheres was 7.9 × 10−3 mol L−1 and in the microspheres with AgNPs the concentration was 1.8 × 10−2 mol L−1. The microspheres with AgNPs released more drug (77%) than the material without AgNPs.